Re: 'Tony Soprano' dies at the age of 51

Saw this mentioned in the Totally Random thread. A sad loss. I've been a fan of the guy since I saw him in Get Shorty; I'm sure I'd seen him before, but that was the first movie from which I became aware of who he was, and have followed his stuff ever since. Loved him in Sopranos, obviously, but also in his myriad smaller, character-driven roles. The guy had presence and natural charisma. He could play happy and jolly, or intense and focused, or intimidating and scary. Not a lot of actors out there who can pull off all three convincingly. And god, so young...he's only ten years older than I am.

Re: 'Tony Soprano' dies at the age of 51

Tony didn't die in the final episode, though. It can be taken that way the way they shot it, with all the cuts from Tony's POV to other things going on around him then that final smash cut to black, but if you look at it from another perspective, it could also just be illustrating the fact that Tony, after all the evils he's done in his life, has had no catharsis, that he's going to spend the rest of his life paranoid and looking over his shoulder. And when you take into consideration that series creator David Chase has been planning a movie for years -- and that it would have starred Gandolfini as Tony -- then obviously he didn't die in the last episode.

Re: 'Tony Soprano' dies at the age of 51

R.I.P. James Gandolfini - such a shame to lose a talented actor so young. I can't believe he was only 51 man, that is too young.

But less important stuff, am I the only one who found the title of the thread a little insulting? Not personally of course, I mean to James himself.

I don't understand why he is called 'Tony Soprano' in the title. That's a character he played, it's not him. I know this is nit-picking because his name is mentioned in the first sentence, but it just got to me.

Re: 'Tony Soprano' dies at the age of 51

Ah, I wouldn't read too much into it, Scav. As great an actor as he was, outside of his Sopranos fan base James Gandolfini wasn't exactly a household name. It's a shame, but that's how it is. If it had read "James Gandolfini dies at the age of 51" few people probably would have bothered checking the thread.